Dep required on the day - is this a thing now?

midiman1962

Saw a Facebook post on a Friday at 5pm for a rhythm guitarist needed that night and the next day . I ended up doing the Saturday.
I had a setlist but no comms about my experience, gear (apart from please bring guitar and amp!).
Everything was totally on trust that I could play it.
in fact until I saw their physical gig Setlists I was unaware of which songs I was starting including the first one.
To be fair I did enjoy the challenge and the gig .
The next week I then saw the same band advertising for a dep lead guitarist on the gig day !
is this constant moving line up now a thing?

stickyfiddle

Last minute deps are definitely a thing. Did they at least get any clips/vids of you in other bands to know you weren't a complete chancer?

midiman1962

stickyfiddle said:

Last minute deps are definitely a thing. Did they at least get any clips/vids of you in other bands to know you weren't a complete chancer?

I don’t think so … all I can think of is that the band maybe thought nobody would attempt this type of thing if they didn't think they could pull it off?

joeW

That’s punchy - did you get the sheet music or just a setlist ?  How did you get on ending tunes ?  Forces you to listen and watch the rest of the band.  

midiman1962

joeW said:

That’s punchy - did you get the sheet music or just a setlist ?  How did you get on ending tunes ?  Forces you to listen and watch the rest of the band.  

Just a setlist and a pointer to 3 songs not in the original key. It was standard party band tunes with the exception of a couple which were more challenging. Ending tunes was via the drummer q’ing me. I was surprised how laid backs they were about it all. I even added a load of bv’s !

Keefy

I’ve done a few same-day deps. My record is 52 minutes from getting the call to being counted in on the first number but that was a blues gig on bass, and the band leader gave cues to show whether there was a ‘quick change’ (IV chord in bar 2).

p90fool

I've done a few over the years but now usually turn them down as the effort isn't usually worth it for one gig and I'm too busy to commit to any more. 

I did one last summer for a band who are good mates, but there are a couple of local bands who don't have a permanent guitarist and only seem to use deps. They only seem to do shit gigs for £150 though, so I always say no. 

I get zero pleasure from people who've never met each other limping through dad rock covers tbh, as either a player or a listener. 

Danny1969

I used to be on that dep musicians wanted on FB 

There was a time when I was only gigging and teaching and I would play and dep for anyone. Some bands were pretty ropy and there were songs where they were all playing parts wrong in the same way which meant I had to listen and go along in the wrong way too just to stop it sounding even worse. Did 9 gigs in one week once in 2016

I still do dep but only at short notice. I'm not gonna put a £100 to me  dep gig in the calendar and then have that stop one of my main bands earning us £250 each,  but I will jump in at short notice if there's nothing going on, there's an earn in it  and it's localish or they pick me up. 

merlin

If a large group of players all know the repertoire, all have chops, then creating a lineup for each gig is only about finding who's available. 

axisus

Wow, I'm amazed at you guys who call pull this sort of thing off!

EricTheWeary

axisus said:

Wow, I'm amazed at you guys who call pull this sort of thing off!

I'm struggling to imagine doing it. 

Most of my fellow band members did short notice deps in another band that played a fairly similar set to ours. The band was run by the guitarist so I didn't; I think he was a bit of an arsehole but good at pushing for gigs and the line up was whoever he could get on the night. Just playing a paid gig with no rehearsals his personality didn't really come into it as much so that was fine. Between his personality and delivering some poor quality gigs it fell apart eventually. 

borntohang

I've done it a few times, but most of the outfits I've worked with usually expect you to come with at least word-of-mouth recommendation before taking the gig. Not sure I'd be up for taking the risk on somebody coming in totally raw, although I absolutely know players who could do it.

midiman1962

I’ve been in loads of bands and also run a jam night so I guess I know a lot of songs … I also think I’ve got a “fairly good ear” - the guy on the night before had just turned up on the night as well so maybe he set a good precedent - my eyebrows were just raised by the lack of comms during the day of the gig though I did get a message at 5.10pm asking if I was still ok for it

lustycourtier

Ive been doing them for years. 90% go well witgh everyone knowing their stuff. Sometimes not. I once had a new year where I turned up as a dep, and so did the rest of the band. It was an utter disaster. 
 I also play in A few tributes to different bands, but they are much easier to dep. Every tribute band plays the songs like the record. 

ESBlonde

Only twice on the day for a traditional folk band that had an electric guitar, bass and drums behind them. Lots of 3 chord stuff I didn’t know but the trad part of the band blew through songs while the “caller” explained the dance to the audience before the rhythmic thump of the bankend kicked in. It was a Friday night in a local pub, they then offered me the Saturday at a barn dance. I became their temp guitarist for nearly two years after that.
Second time an old friend and drummer called me and started chatting about a gig we could pull together and what we might play, we rattled off songs we’d done years before etc. before he announced the gig was that very eve! The bass player he’d called in was a heavy rocker and sang some lead, I was more pop soul and early 70s rock at the time. So we sang song each of us knew and backed the other for their choices. Bit of a car crash but I think we pulled it off. Oh and it was up a big staircase in the days I had a Marshall and a pair of JBLs which really didn’t endear the situation to me.
I’ve done lots of Dep work since usually from folks I know or on recommendation. Mostly they go very well and are organised.

koneguitarist

Loads of deps over the years, and some went great some ok and some disastrous ;-)

koneguitarist

Did a great gig depping on bass in a country band in Devon once. No set list just called out keys, but as I got there drummer and guitarist/steel player was on stage already. Singer guitarist said we have to go on early if that’s ok, grab a drink and plug in. Introduced band as Pete on Drums, Jim on guitar and they both Waved.
easy enough I thought. Well as a bassist you obviously want to lock in with drummer so was trying to get eye contact whole of first set, but he would look at me occasionally and generally ignore me. He then dropped a stick and grabbed another very quickly. At end of song I picked it up and said here’s your stick, and watching his hand flail about trying to find it was first time I realised he was totally blind. Felt a right twat.

RocknRollDave

I have had a few deps over the years, guys who I have never played with (or even met!) before the gig itself.
On the whole, things have been fine. I have only had one guy who really wasn't very good - I am much clearer in my adverts now if I have to use a dep. 
Over the years of gigging regularly, I have built up a number of contacts of guys I know I can use if one of my regular guys isn't available, but every so often there's a gig that it seems none of them are available for, or one of them lets me know a week ahead that he's been struck down with illness.

Only ever once had to find a dep on the day of a gig: my then-drummer's wife went into labour. Fair play to the guy, he was going to honour the booking if we couldn't find a replacement. Fortunately we did, and making that phone call to my regular guy AS  HE WAS WALKING OUT OF THE HOSPITAL to tell him, "Hey mate, STAY WITH HER, we have sorted it!" was an especially special moment. 

fretmeister

The most amazing dep gig I’ve ever heard of was Vincen Garcia. 2 days before the start of Cory Wong’s European tour regular bassist Sonny T (Prince’s long time bassist) had a family problem.

Emails swapped. 40 tunes to learn in 2 days, that time also being used to get from Garcia’s native Spain to Sweden.

Gig rules… first two shows he was allowed charts, then memory from then on.
He met the band at the soundcheck on the afternoon of the first gig.



This was the set from the London gig. It’s about as far from a 12 bar blues dep as I could imagine. 

https://youtu.be/i1pNI9T94RU?si=ZLTX3sq1TATYmrkz


What a legend!

RocknRollDave

fretmeister said:

The most amazing dep gig I’ve ever heard of was Vincen Garcia. 2 days before the start of Cory Wong’s European tour regular bassist Sonny T (Prince’s long time bassist) had a family problem.

Emails swapped. 40 tunes to learn in 2 days, that time also being used to get from Garcia’s native Spain to Sweden.

Gig rules… first two shows he was allowed charts, then memory from then on.
He met the band at the soundcheck on the afternoon of the first gig.



This was the set from the London gig. It’s about as far from a 12 bar blues dep as I could imagine. 

https://youtu.be/i1pNI9T94RU?si=ZLTX3sq1TATYmrkz


What a legend!

Just….wow!

That’s a level of ability several stratospheres above anything I could ever hope to achieve.

PolarityMan

Didnt Gene Hoglen dep for Opeth at short notice once, I think had overnight to learn the songs but no access to a kit.